Birth Control Options for Transgender and Nonbinary People

Our gender identity can shape our birth control choices. This WebMD article provides guidance around birth control for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. It discusses how contraception relates to hormone therapies, different contraceptive methods and how to use them, and tips for communicating with medical providers.

Those of us who take hormone therapy need to know that hormone therapy is not birth control. However, birth control can be helpful with gender dysphoria. Any encounter of vaginal sex between someone with ovaries and a uterus and someone with testicles and a penis can result in pregnancy. It is important to speak with our partners and medical providers about birth control.

Our birth control options include condoms, IUDs, progesterone-only methods, combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs), and more permanent methods such as a vasectomy or tubal litigation. This guide addresses how different birth control methods can affect transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. It attends to how our experience of birth control may vary depending on our gender identity.

Birth control is not designed for any particular gender identity. Anything that cisgender people might choose is available for everyone. The type of contraceptive that’s best for you depends on your situation.

SOURCE: WebMD • AUTHOR: Madeline Laguaite • LAST UPDATED: August 7, 2023